Scottish Family Values Award

Two global charity pioneers were honoured at the 2016 Scottish Family Values Awards in Glasgow, sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow, founder and chief executive of Mary’s Meals, and Maureen McIntyre, who pioneered Educate the Kids, each received this year’s Family Values Award. Members of the Mormon faith meet annually with other organisations and individuals in recognising prominent members of the Scottish community who support the family as the fundamental unit of society.

Elder Clifford T Herbertson, Area Seventy, said: “These two worthy recipients of the Awards lead charities that feed and educate citizens of the future – they are making a huge difference to individuals and families. Their compassion, vision, strength, courage and diligence influences not only those who receive the help but also the extended families and communities around them and those who give to make it possible.”

On accepting the Award, Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow responded by saying that the recognition was for his “own family and all those who have sacrificed to further the cause of Mary’s Meals”.

Magnus had been previously praised as a ‘CNN Hero’ and has also been named as one of TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world. His book ‘The Shed That Fed a Million Children’, reached The Times and The Sunday Times bestseller list immediately after release. Mary’s Meals is a global charity that provides daily meals in a place of education to more than one million of the world’s poorest children.

Maureen McIntyre was so haunted by the poverty and lack of education that she witnessed while visiting Kenya that she ‘did something about it’ when she returned home.

She said: “We went on holiday to Africa and we were appalled at what we saw. We feel every child has a right to an education and we spotted one little boy we really wanted to help. From there, people were coming to us saying they wanted to help too and before long we realised we needed to start a charity.”

Since 1998, Maureen’s compassion, fortitude and hard work has enabled thousands of children from the poorest circumstances in Kenya to receive an education. The charity Educate the Kids has sponsors from all over the world which has led to the building of a school and orphanage with around 800 children a year receiving an education. Four of the teachers today were in the first intake of children all those years ago.